The Work
Doña Perón marks Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's first evening-length work for the Company and reclaims the narrative of the iconic Latina figure by a Latina choreographer. This will be a seminal work for Ballet Hispánico as the organization moves beyond our 50th Anniversary and continues centering the voices of Latinx artists.
From Annabelle Lopez Ochoa:
"She's not a fairytale character, she's not a literary character. She's a real woman, and for me, it's interesting to put her on stage because she's difficult to pin point."
"I want to give female dancers real roles, not always the nice roles. Women are complex and it's nice to show all of these facets. I'm very grateful that I can put this woman, Evita Perón, on stage as a female choreographer."
The Creation of Doña Perón
Ballet Hispánico is working with costume and fashion designer Mark Eric in creating over 80 costumes for the world premiere of Doña Perón. To learn more and support the creation of these costumes, please click here.
Participate in the creation of Ballet Hispánico’s next signature work and the first-ever full-length ballet based on the life of the iconic Evita Perón. For more information about becoming a Commissioning Patron, please click here.
The Creative Team
ANNABELLE LOPEZ OCHOA
CHOREOGRAPHER
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa has been choreographing since 2003 following a twelve-year dance career in various contemporary dance companies throughout Europe. She has created works for sixty dance companies worldwide including Ballet Hispánico, Atlanta Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Compañia Nacíonal de Danza, Dutch National Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, Göteborg Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, BJM-Danse Montréal, New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, English National Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, to name a few. In 2012, her first full length work, A Streetcar Named Desire, originally created for the Scottish Ballet, received the Critics' Circle National Dance Award for "Best Classical Choreography" and was nominated for a prestigious Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production the following year. Annabelle was the recipient of the Jacob's Pillow Dance Award in 2019.
NANCY MECKLER
ARTISTIC COLLABORATOR
Based in London, Nancy Meckler is a freelance director of theatre, film and dance. She ran Shared Experience Theatre, a UK touring company, for over 20 years and has directed for the Royal Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare’s Globe. Nancy was the first woman to direct at the National Theatre. She first collaborated with Annabelle Lopez Ochoa in 2012 when they created their award winning ballet of Streetcar Named Desire for Scottish Ballet. Since then they have worked together on Broken Wings, Frida, and The Little Prince. She also directed two feature films for Channel Four including Alive and Kicking, a film about a dancer, which won the Audience Award at the London Film Festival.
PETER SALEM
MUSIC
Peter’s work is currently divided between scores for contemporary ballet and film & television.
His work with Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa includes the score for Scottish Ballet’s Olivier Nominated and South Bank Sky Arts Award-winning ballet a Streetcar Named Desire, English National Ballet‘s Broken Wings based on the life of Frida Kahlo, Frida for Dutch National Ballet and The Little Prince for BalletX. Other ballet scores include Atlanta ballet’s Camino Real based on the play by Tennessee Williams and Scottish Ballet’s The Crucible (both choreographed by Helen Pickett) for which he was nominated for a British Dance Award.
His media work is also internationally renowned, principally his music for Call the Midwife (BBC) as well as other high profile productions including dramas such as Cider With Rosie, Five Daughters, Great Expectations (BBC) and documentaries including Francesco’s Venice and Simon Schama’s The Power of Art (BBC2).
Extensive theatre work includes many scores for productions by the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Royal National Theatre and Shared Experience Theatre.
MARK ERIC
COSTUME DESIGN
Mark Eric is a costume and fashion designer based in New York City, where he trained at the Fashion Institute of Technology. After designing for several New York City fashion houses, he discovered his passion for costuming for the stage. He enjoys bringing his couture fashion sensibility to his design, often employing artisanal techniques when creating his signature costumes. He has designed costumes for: Robert Battle, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Rennie Harris, Robbie Fairchild, Stefanie Batten Bland, Andrew McNicol, and Marguerite Donlon to name a few. He has costumed works for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theater, BalletX, Ballet Hispanico, Ailey II, among others. Instagram @MARKERICdesign.
CHRISTOPHER ASH
LIGHTING, SET, AND VIDEO DESIGN
Philadelphia-based Designer and Filmmaker, Christopher Ash’s work has been seen in 13 countries and been recognized for 15 awards. Equally at home designing projections, scenery or lighting for theatre, opera, and dance as well as direction and cinematography for film. Christopher is currently involved in a multi-phase Guggenheim Works and Process commission with artist John Jarboe. He is also co-creator of an ongoing multi-sensory performance piece “Body Language” with Dublin based dance artist David Bolger and CoisCéim Dance Theatre.
Videos
